Are We Really Living in the Same World?

Have you ever found it strange that although we live in the same world, people often see different things, feel different emotions, and make completely different judgments?

It’s not just about the inner world—we even perceive the so-called objective material world differently.

You might already have your own answer to why. But before we dive in, I want to introduce a hidden mechanism within all of us: homeostasis.

What Is “Active Stability”?

Have you ever noticed how, on a scorching 40°C day, stepping into a 26°C air-conditioned room doesn’t cause your body temperature to fluctuate dramatically?

That’s your body’s active stability at work.

Stability doesn’t mean staying the same—it means maintaining your core output amid fluctuation. Take personality, for instance. You might have a friend who occasionally gets angry, but overall, they’re pretty chill. You can count on them to stay calm and cheerful most of the time.

This kind of consistency comes from three key mechanisms:

🔹 1. Dynamic Balance
It’s like riding a bicycle—you’re constantly making micro-adjustments to keep yourself upright. You appear “stable,” but only because you’re actively shifting.

Optimistic people still get sad. Pessimistic people still experience joy.
The difference lies in the frequency and range of their emotional shifts. And that’s what gives rise to a person’s “core temperament.”

🔹 2. Calibration System
Why does an air conditioner stay at the set temperature? Because it keeps checking and adjusting based on a target value.

Your mind does the same.
An optimistic person might feel down momentarily, but soon their “self-cheering” system kicks in. A pessimistic person, on the other hand, may question their own joy: “Something must be wrong. I need to find out what.”

Each of us has an internal “emotional thermostat” quietly pulling our feelings back to where they’ve always been.

🔹 3. Limits of Regulation
However, when faced with intense external shocks—like trauma, sudden loss, or bizarre life events—our system might collapse.

If someone changes drastically after a life-altering experience, maybe it’s not that they’ve lost stability. Maybe their “homeostasis” has just shifted to a new baseline.

Perception Is Also Actively Stabilized

So far, we’ve been talking about physical and emotional stability. But there’s an even more subtle form of “active regulation” in our lives—perception.

You might wonder: Isn’t perception passive? Isn’t it just seeing, hearing, touching, smelling? How could that be "regulated"?

Let’s try an illusion.

🟦 Imagine a checkerboard.

There are two tiles marked A and B.

Would you believe it if I said: A and B are the exact same color?

It sounds like a lie. But it’s true. Their RGB values are identical.

If you cover up the surrounding tiles and look at just A and B, you’ll see—they really are the same.

So why did your brain tell you otherwise?

Because it made a judgment: This is a checkerboard. Light and shadow must apply.

The square labeled A looks like it’s in shadow, so your brain thinks, “It must be lighter than it looks.”
The square labeled B seems to be in light, so your brain thinks, “It must be darker than it appears.”

In other words: your brain isn’t just seeing color—it’s interpreting context.

Your brain isn’t a camera.
It filters out what you “don’t need”
and fills in what you “expect to see.”

You have about 100 million neurons responsible for receiving sensory input from the outside world.
But the neurons in charge of internal processing? Over 10.5 trillion.

That’s a 1:100,000 ratio.

So most of your brain’s activity isn’t about seeing the world as it is, but re-constructing what it expects.

So, Are We Really Seeing the Same World?

We like to believe we’re perceiving reality. But really, we’re perceiving our expectation of reality.

Reading this article right now, how much are you ignoring?
Your brain is filtering out anything irrelevant to your current focus—like the sound of the room, the feeling of your clothes, or flickering lights—so you can focus on exactly this.

So even when we look at the same scene, we may end up drawing entirely different conclusions.

Have you ever had that experience—where someone says something and you just can’t take it in?

Maybe no one’s “wrong.” Maybe it’s just that...
you’re not living in the same world.

Everyone has their own way of seeing.

Knowing this can help us become more accepting of others.
But if someone constantly tries to impose their world onto yours—pressuring you to live by their expectations, doing things you don’t want just to keep the peace...

That’s a boundary violation.

And it’s okay to say no.

If you’ve been in such situations, or are going through them now, you might resonate deeply with the concept of personal boundaries.

I’ve written an ebook exploring this invisible yet life-shaping structure—about selfhood, boundaries, and intimate relationships.
You’re very welcome to take a look.

Next Time...

We’ll dive into how our private, subjective worlds shape our external realities. How thought becomes action, and how belief becomes experience.

And if no one has told you this today:

🌙 If you are reading this I wish you nothing but the utmost happiness and joy for both you and your friends, and that the shadows that haunt you at this time wither in the light soon to come. You will make it through.